Nadal struggles with foot injury in Italian Open loss

Rome
With just 10 days to go before the French Open, Rafael Nadal is struggling with an injury again. Nadal was hampered by a foot problem toward the end of a 1-6 7-5 6-2 third-round loss to Denis Shapovalov at the Italian Open on Thursday.
At one point, the 35-year-old Nadal walked over and leaned on his towel box, and grimaced in apparent pain. He also limped between points.
Nadal missed a large portion of last year with a left foot injury.
I hurt my foot again with a lot of pain, Nadal said. I’m a player living with an injury. It’s nothing new. It’s something that is there, unfortunately. Day by day is difficult.
It was a worrisome scene for Nadal — especially with the French Open starting on May 22.
What can happen in the next couple of days, I don’t know, said Nadal, who has won Roland Garros a record 13 times. What can happen in one week, I don’t know now. Nadal returned to the tour last week following a rib stress fracture that kept him out for six weeks after a blistering start to the year that included his record 21st Grand Slam title at the Australian Open.
It’s difficult for me to accept the situation sometimes, Nadal said. Can be frustrating that a lot of days I can’t practice the proper way. Nadal was also beaten by 19-year-old Carlos Alcaraz in the quarterfinals of last week’s Madrid Open.